Benjamin Westphal

SLEEPY EYE — Amid a flurry of action items Tuesday, the Sleepy Eye School Board unanimously approved elementary and school principal contracts.

A $90,000 pact for the 2026-2027 school year was approved for elementary principal Benjamin Westphal. He also received a one-year probationary period extension.

“It’s important to recognize the time and effort of our staff takes for more interaction with the superintendent, other principals and staff as we move forward,” said board member Adam Barka.

Westphal said a new office referral form will be rolled out by the Behavior Team at a March 18 all-staff meeting.

He said staff information at the meeting will include clear procedures and expectations for special education and general education student behavior response plans and how the plans differ.

“A crisis response team will be established so it’s clear who the first and second point of contacts are and who is on the chain of command,” said Westphal. “Measures are being taken to improve the office referral process, ensuring it is something of quality, not just a process being checked. We want it to have an impact.”

He said the all-staff meeting will also include measures being taken to increase parent buy-in/involvement in student behavior.

“I’m seeing less of the same student names that were were seeing over and over and over again,” said Westphal.

He said grandparents day is Tuesday, March 31 with bingo in school from 1:40 to 3 p.m. K-4 students will attend a Martin Luther College play from 9-11 a.m., Friday, May 1.

“The children’s plays at MLC are fabulous, especially for K-4 students,” said Westphal. “Bike Rodeo days are 1-3 p.m. April 30 and May 1 with first-graders getting bike helmets.”

The board approved a contract for the 2025-2027 school year for high school principal Shane Laffen. He will receive $125,681 this school year and $132,346 next school year.

Laffen said a March 4 student body presentation by Dr. Cindra Kamphoff, (a former Iowa high school mile run state champion and mental performance coach) seemed to be well received by the students.

“The goal with those presentations is if kids get something powerful out of the message, it’s a win for us,” he said.

Her talk included overcoming hurdles that stand between students and their goals, whether on the court, in the classroom or out in the world.

Action came on a motion by board member Brian Nelson, seconded by Joleen Dittbenner.

Superintendent John Cselovszki said Tomahawk Conference schools voted in favor of continuing the current Tomahawk-Valley Conference alignment. He said Bound software scheduling will allow for facilities scheduling and online ticketing.

“This really streamlines the system,” he said. “The conference is recommending to boost adult ticket costs a dollar to $8 and keep student admission at $5 for the 2026-27 school year.